Cadre Prime
Cadre Prime is a cadre of telepaths within Psi Corps who manifested their abilities either at birth or before the onset of puberty. As they account for less that 5% of all human telepaths, they are considered exceptionally rare and special. They are taught that it will be their responsibility to serve as an example to "laters" of what it means to be Corps. However, they do not necessarily represent the strongest teeps in the Corps; Lyta Alexander, for example, was a member of Cadre Prime and a P5, while Alfred Bester, also raised in Cadre Prime, was a strong P12.Deadly Relations - Bester Ascendant - (p.215) Because they manifested so early, Cadre Prime was perhaps the most indoctrinated of all of Psi Corps, knowing very little of life among mundanes, if at all. Life within Cadre Prime was highly structured and scheduled, with daily lessons broken up by "constructive playtime", during which pre-approved games such as Cops 'n' Blips may be played. Based in Alpha Quad in Teeptown, children in Cadre Prime must first pass through several different houses as they grow up. The first stop for young telepaths is the creche in Teeptown's hospital, where they stay until the age of 3 where they either join the 3-5 Cadre house or, if their abilities remain latent, they are sent to the latent's dorm (also known as "the basement"). As a child ages, they go through the 6-10 then 11-12 houses until they are able to pass their entrance exams for the Minor Academy. All through these years, they are assigned a small group of teachers and caregivers who essentially become the children's de facto parental figures, though in truth this sort of attachment is discouraged, as the children are taught that "The Corps is Mother, the Corps is Father", as opposed to any specific individual within the Corps. The Grins Discipline within the Cadre is enforced by the Monitors, nicknamed "Grins" by the children. To the young children, the Grins are a source of mystery and dread, cloaked in formless grey robes, flat almost mechanical voices, impersonal nature and a blank mask in place of a face that displays only very basic emotional symbols. Favourite theories as to the true nature of the Grins range from reprogrammed criminals to androids built in defiance of the AI test bans. The Grins deal out both punishments and rewards, often appearing without warning to take a child away to be punished for some misstep or violation of the rules of the Cadre. On Birthday, following a play by the older children, the Grins appear with frozen "happy" expressions, giving out gifts and toys to the younger children before the William Karges movie is shown. At age 12, when the children have passed their exams to enter the Minor Academy, the Grins descend on them en-mass, sweeping into the dormitories and ordering their charges to strip before parading them outside in front of the older classes and driven into one of the assembly halls. Once they're corralled together the Grins begin to savagely rip apart their telepathic blocks, ripping out memories of shame and humiliation and glyphing them for all to see. The process intensifies as all are made to relive the most unpleasant memories of their fellows until finally one fights back and takes up the telepathic call for them to stop, until all join together, shouting at the top of their minds for the Grins to stop. When the Grins finally do stop, they proudly take off their masks and robes, revealing that they are in fact the children's caregivers and teachers who have raised them from infancy, all of whom are also part of Cadre Prime. The new Cadre are then congratulated and told of their uniqueness among telepaths. After which the carers drop their defences and invite the children to do to their teachers what was just done to them. After the initiation is complete, the new members of Cadre Prime at last receive their first pair of gloves. Known Cadre Primers * Natasha Alexander * Alfred Bester * Lyta Alexander * Brett * Milla * Keefa * Azmun * Julia * Hua * Roberts * Alverado * Chastain * King * Kitsuru * Childress * Menno * Ekko References Category:Culture Category:Psi Corps